Case 6-Afr-Gabon-Mask-Kata-19th c
RELIQUARY FIGURE
Gabon, Kata
Wood, brats, H. 24% in. (61.6 cm.)
I9tb-20tb centmy
This large double-faced figure (ngulu or nguru) is typical of one
Kota substyle. Its size alone attests to its great ritual impor
tance as guardian of a basket of relics belonging to an extensive
lineage group. It has two ovoid faces, one concave (here dec
orated with strips of brass on the forehead reminiscent of the
ornamentation used by groups north of the Sebe River), and
the other a combination of concave and convex, with an over
hanging brow cutting straight across the face. (The latter re
calls the form of Mvudi masks of the Ndjabi and Aduma peo
ple.) The sharp crescent-shaped crest is wide, as are the sides
of the coiffure with their cylindrical eardrops. The decoration
consists entirely of brass and copper plaques. Identifying em
blems appear on front and back of the crest. Is this a symbol
ically male and female object? No evidence supports this hy
pothesis.
Several features allow us to group this piece with a number
of others: the base with its elegantly pointed “shoulders”; the
eyes (coffee-bean shape with slits or nailheads for pupils); and
the mouth on the concave-convex face (decorated with a cowrie
shell and incised teeth in the manner of Mvudi masks). It is
possible that the entire group is the work of a single school—
some even of a single artist, who unfortunately remains un
known.1
Several early illustrations (de Brazza 1887) show these fig
ures arranged on large baskets (mbulu, musuku, or nsuwu) con
taining relics of ancestors. All the reliquaries in a village were
grouped together under a small shelter away from the houses,
in a sort of sanctuary for ancestors. In contrast to the Fang,
Whose Byeri cult became a family concern at the beginning of
the twentieth century, the Kota—especially those in the south
(Obamba, Mindumu, Mindassa, Bawumbu)—-practiced a
more communal cult in conjunction with initiation societies
(ngoye) and on the village level.
L. Perroz's
1. Similar examples are in the British Museum, Musée de l’Homme,
Musée d’Angouléme, and collections of Pierre Verité, Schoffel, Van
Bussel, and I. Pz'iiles.
Refirences: Andersson 1953, 1974; Perrois 1979.
j 119. RELIQUARY FIGURE
Gabon, Kota
Wood, brass, copper, bone, H. 20 in. (50.8 cm.)
19t/J-